Michigan basketball to take on West Virginia

The #3 ranked Michigan Wolverines (10-0) will play on a neutral site (the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn) against West Virginia on Saturday night. Tip is set for 8 pm and the game will be televised on ESPN.

At the time that this matchup was put together it looked awfully intriguing. The marquee read John Beilein taking on the school where he first stamped his coaching legend. On the other side sits Bob Huggins, the Mountaineers latest front man. Both teams are coming off of successful seasons from a year ago, but both also lost in their opening round matchup of the NCAA tourney.

And now, it simply looks like a grotesque mismatch of talent and superior play. Michigan is drubbing all comers and West Virginia is, well, getting drubbed by most comers.

The Mountaineers (4-4) started their season with a 34 point loss to Gonzaga, the same team who bounced them from March Madness a season ago. They have also lost to Davidson, Oklahoma, and most recently Duquesne on Tuesday night. Ouch. Their 4 wins have come against Marist, VMI, Marshall, and Virginia Tech.

Why Michigan will win

Need I say anything more than what’s written above? OK, fine:

Michigan ranks 7th nationally in field goal % at 50.7% – West Virginia ranks 307th at a sorry 39% (trust me, it took a while to find them on the list)

Michigan is 12th in the nation in 3-point efficiency at 40.8% – West Virginia ranks 326th at 26.4%

Michigan’s 1.56 assist-to-turnover ratio is 6th best in the country – West Virginia ranks 68th at 1.14

A nerdy little stat that I love is points per possession. Michigan, a model of efficiency, ranks 4th nationally at 1.22 – West Virginia ranks 148th at 1.02 points/possession.

Michigan ranks 33rd in the nation with 77 points/game. WVU check in at #162 with 69.2 ppg.

So the lessons here are that Michigan is really good and WVU is struggling to find their way. Huggins will throw a lot of players onto the court and try to grind the game down a bit, which seems wise against Michigan’s new high-flying attack led by Trey Burke.

The only way Michigan struggles is if the Mountaineers catch a hot hand out of the blue against a really good defense and somehow rattle Michigan’s ability to score with efficiency. The likelihood of those two things happening is mighty slim.

Michigan’s “Big 4” are all averaging in double digits, led by Burke’s 17.1 ppg and 6.9 assists/game. Tim Hardaway Jr. is at 14.8 ppg and 5.5 rebound/game. Nik Stauskas, in his freshman season, is hitting at a 58.7% clip from long range and scoring 13.5 ppg. Throw in extremely quiet production from fellow freshman Glenn Robinson III (11.6 ppg, 6.5 rpg) and increasing productivity from big men Jordan Morgan and Mitch McGary, and Michigan has the goods to continue their undefeated trend.

Predictions

So far Rob and I are both 10-0 predicting the outcome of Michigan games this year. We both feel that they won’t take a loss until they play at Ohio State in their 17th game of the year. With that in mind:

Rob: Michigan 74-60

Joe: Michigan 79-59

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About Joe White

Co-founder as well as MLB and college basketball correspondent at isportsweb.com.
You can follow me on Twitter @isportsJoe

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Hello, always i used to check webpage posts here early in the daylight, as i love to learn more and more.

http://twitter.com/isportsJoe Joe White

Too bad Craig. Was wondering if you’d get there.

Craig Coxen

Tough to predict the final score in this one. The question comes down to how coach B feels on game day. Does he want to squash his old program or go deep into his bench. I think you will see a lot of the bench in this one. Michigan by 12. Coincidentally, I will be in NYC this weekend. I would love to see the Barclays Center, but unlike the last trip, I won’t be at the game.

Featured Writer

Born and raised in Southern New Jersey, I follow the NHL and other hockey leagues. I follow the Philadelphia Flyers as well as the St. Louis Blues. I go to American University in Washington DC. I major in International Studies and Russian Language, and I also play Division 3 Club ice hockey. Writing about current NHL topics since 2015.
You can find Jared on Twitter @Wainer78